Question Response: Week 4

Shanae Holder
Question Response #1

As a part of this class, we are required to blog. Now that we are a part of the rising blogosphere and to an extent, understand the power of a blog (such as the recent raves of food blogs and fashion blogs, etc.), how can we determine a blogger's "ability" to blog truthfully? As many restaurants like to frame their credentials and positive reviews from newspapers and hang them on their walls, should there be some kind of system implemented to distinguish bloggers who blog truthfully with good intentions and notable credentials, as opposed to bloggers who have neither credibility or authority who may even be a secret blogger for a larger organization? Given that anyone can "Google" search any subject and be able to choose their sources, how can we be sure that what we are reading is written by an author of ability? By Gina Kim

As I read through chapter 4, I also found myself asking questions that were similar to Gina’s. How can people determine the ability/credibility of new social media? Websites such as Twitter, blogs, YouTube and Wikis are mediums that anyone can use to generate and exchange ideas, conversation, videos, pictures and various other types of content to users. From an innovative angle, these website are great because they allow for new material to be voiced freely but how can people tell an author’s truth ability through the internet?

One example that comes to mind is the new movement by journalists to use these social media as a news source. Recently, a reporter browsing Twitter discovered that Lance Armstrong wrote that he “Had dinner w/ Howard Schultz of Starbucks, his family, and some friends last night.. Great man who's committed to healthcare for all..,” and although this may seem very innocent and even complimentary, this comment sparked a controversy that could be potentially detrimental to the Starbucks reputation. After posting this statement, that reporter found that it was actually in Hawaii that Lance dined with Mr. Schultz and after digging even further she found that Schultz had used a company jet to fly his family there on a personal vacation. According to company policy, Starbucks’ employees must reimburse the corporation for the use of company planes. Apparently Schultz has still not done so and has found himself in hot water all because of a simple, polite twitter by famous friend. Now, this particular incident may be an anomaly as far as a reporter stirring up serious, truthful allegations against a very prominent CEO, I find it hard to believe that most information can be that reliable.

Although I do believe that certain websites should be held up to a “credibility” standard such as Wikipedia which claims to be an online encyclopedia, I think it would defeat the purpose of blogging and wikis if everyone needed to be an expert on what they are talking about. I cannot really find anything wrong with someone blogging about something that they may not have expert ability in. Where I believe the problem truly lies is in people’s media literacy. If people pay more attention to what type of information they are consuming and are conscious of a source’s “authority,” the amount of misinformed people would significantly decrease. I honestly feel that it is the responsibility of the person reading the blogs, twitters, and wikis to do their due diligence and research information that is not already common knowledge. Therefore each person can certify their own “author of ability.”